Monday, July 27, 2015

Old School Lane celebrates the 30th Anniversary of Pee-wee's Big Adventure

Here's something that we haven't done in a long while: an article celebrating the anniversary of a form of media. As of yesterday, the film Pee-wee's Big Adventure had celebrated its 30th anniversary. For our older followers from back in 2011, some of you already know that Kevin and I are fans of Pee-wee, his stage shows, movies, and TV show. One of the very first posts that I did for Old School Lane was my top 10 Pee-wee Herman moments of 2011. It was that post that had gotten the attention of Paul Reubens, the man who performed as Pee-wee, and gave me the confidence to continue the blog. In a sense, without Pee-wee, Old School Lane probably wouldn't have existed. As a child, I saw Pee-wee's Playhouse on and off as a toddler of 3 or 4 because I am a Seventh Day Adventist and I went to church when the show aired. But when the incident at the XXX theater occurred in 1991, my mother, like many other parents at the time,forbade me from watching it. Later on, I was rewatching Pee-wee's Playhouse on Adult Swim as a young adult in college. I had to watch it in secret since my parents still felt the same disgust for Paul Reubens. The 2002 incident where the police went to his house and found vintage photos and magazines of young male models claiming it was pornography didn't help much. Now that we've gotten my history out of the way, let's talk about the movie.

It was around that time when I saw Pee-wee's Big Adventure for the first time on TV and fell in love with it. I found it to be very funny, quirky, and entertaining. Almost every single scene in the film has something quotable and memorable:the dream where Pee-wee won the Tour de France, the breakfast machine, the argument with Francis, meeting with Dottie at the bike store, the meeting with at the basement, the fortune teller giving the false prediction that the stolen bike was at the Alamo's basement, meeting up with Mickey, meeting up with Large Marge, meeting up with Simone, the Alamo tour, the Tequila dance at the biker bar, the bike montage at the Hollywood set, and the Pee-wee movie at the drive-in. It was also where I learned that this was Tim Burton's first movie that he directed. As a fan of Tim Burton movies such as Beetlejuice, Batman, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Big Fish, this was an additional treat. It was also the first time that Danny Elfman got to do a soundtrack for a Tim Burton movie and it perfectly fits the movie's fun/dark tones.



The movie was always considered to be a cult classic. It may not be a household name, but the dedicated fanbase has always kept it alive as one of the best comedies of the 80's. The adults who saw Pee-wee's Big Adventure as kids introduced it to their kids. The teenagers who saw Pee-wee's Playhouse on Adult Swim share the movie with their younger siblings. It seems to be the kind of fun movie that people at some point in their lives find and get drawn to it in some way shape or form. The fans of Pee-wee has gotten bigger over the years and still continues to grow. But why? Pee-wee and his content is simply timeless. Pee-wee is such a fun and endearing character who has the mind of a child that we all have deep down inside. The side characters are just as colorful and memorable. The adventure he went through just to retrieve his stolen bike is a blast to experience that we simply don't want to see end.



The upcoming movie coming next year Pee-wee's Big Holiday is going to be a road trip movie just like Big Adventure. I don't think it's going to be a rehash of Big Adventure since Pee-wee will be traveling to numerous places, meeting with different people, and driving a small car, but I'm very looking forward to the new film and can't wait to see where Pee-wee will take us next. I hope it'll be just as enjoyable as Big Adventure. 



But for now, I highly recommend watching Big Adventure tonight. You won't regret it. In fact, you can check out my old review of the movie right here where I collaborated with Manic Expression member Les. That's all for now. Let me know in the comments below if you have any memories, favorite characters, and favorite moments of Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.

-Patricia



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